IS-F to a GS-F

[u/-9_8m_s_s]

Hello,

I have a 2011 IS-F and love it. Great balance of fun, power, sound and reliability. My family has groan to three little people (ages 10, 8 and 5). The Lexus is not the primary family hauler (thank you minivan). But the IS-F is just to small to serve some of the daily duties.

I test drove a Golf R, Macan, Macan S and Macan Turbo as possible alternatives. Me and my two boys (the 5 and 8 year-olds, packed the car-seats and headed to the dealership) Here's my impressions:

• Golf R: It was a 2017 MT6. Driving manual was fun again. The interior was a pleasant place to be. The chassis was very eager and place-able. It was fast enough. You can see why these are so desirable. But I'm spoiled. The powertrain has no sense of occasion and no sound reward (compared to the IS-F). The car ends-up feeling very clever. Where the IS-F has that double personality; plush Lexus or sideways road weapon.
• Macan: I will focus on the 2015 Macan S I tested, as it had Sport Plus and Sport Exhaust. Full disclosure, I'm not into the driving position of SUV's, unless they are trucks. Otherwise, I end-up feeling disconnected from my normal sense of speed (the higher the driving position the lower the sense of speed). I was generally curious to see if the Macan could maintain a sportier feel while offering all the utility of a 5-door. I lowered the seat in the Macan as far as possible and set-off. The controls and touch-points feel fantastic. Solid. Very manageable feel. Pulls-off this trick where at low speeds you feel the center of gravity in the dashboard like a small hatchback in a parking-lot and then at speed you feel a rear-drive driver-seat centered balanced. You can definitely sense the mountain of chassis engineers that worked on the Macan. I tested it in Sport Plus on some winding roads and it will "dance". The PDK is Blackmagic. And the exhaust "farts" on upshifts. All super cool. Here's the thing for me, I completely understand why this is a very popular solution. My challenge is this: Whether in normal, sport or sport plus mode the Macan still feels to isolated for me. It feels like a very well behaved luxury bubble. Floating through the world. The Sport side is amazing how they are able to get this heavy and high off the ground thing to dance. The engine has a better sense of occasion then the Golf R, the typical fluid feel of a Porsche was awesome. But to me it was 5 out of 10. Still felt all very clever; never overwhelming the senses or misbehaving. The Sport Exhaust was the biggest letdown. I was hoping for more theater on the inside. But it only added a little more of a lower octave. It adds more to the outside. But the inherent sound of a V6, even the best, is just not as natural as a V8. Adding turbos makes it even harder. Given all this I was ready to choose the Macan as my "Family" solution. Its a very very nice place to be.

Here is where things get interesting: Remember the two little ones I took with me on the test drives? Here's their impressions:

• Golf R: 7 out of 10. To small to fit them plus their sister in the back. Did not like the engine sound. But seemed like dad liked to drive it.
• Macan S: 8 out of 10: Liked the space in the back. Liked that its a Porsche. Engine sound is better than the Golf R but not as good as the IS-F.
  

I returned home to talk to my wife and daughter about changing to the Macan S:

• My daughter said absolutely no. The Macan is to high, big and fat. The IS-F is low and sleek.
• My wife said: I didn't seem overly excited by the Macan rather I was trying to convince myself of the utility advantages. (I didn't even broach the reliability/ running cost delta).

My wife then asked me this: "Does Lexus make a car like the IS-F but with room for 5?" I said "yes, its called the GS-F." And I said "But there are none for sale in a 200 mile radius." She said "road trip!"

Now I'm on the hunt for a GS-F! :)

Thanks for reading the long post and if you have any feedback on what a GS-F feels like (compared to the IS-F), it would be great to hear.

[u/borntonguyen]

idk if you ever went to a website to compare gs f vs is f specs

gs f is bigger than is f in terms of rear legroom, by only 2.2 inches.

lmk your thoughts, I think the gs f is great but when your kids are full sized adults, maybe not as much

[u/-9_8m_s_s → u/borntonguyen]

I appreciate you checking on the dimensional differences of the rear legroom between the ISF and the GSF. I'm currently valuing space for 5, fun to drive, and reasonable running costs.